Dell’s XPS 10 Tablet Is What a Laptop/Tablet Hybrid Is Supposed to Look Like [Tablets]

There are a lot of hybrid tablets coming out this fall. But while the ones we’ve seen seem to be splitting the difference, Dell seems to be focusing on the best parts of either laptop or tablet. Its XPS 10 is the tablet end of that bargain. More »

Why (Unfair, Expensive) Shared Data Plans Just Became the Inevitable Future [Shared Data]

You’ll be forgiven for not paying too much attention to IFA, a giant tech conference taking place this week in Berlin. There have been some fine spectacles so far—84-inch, 4k TV anyone?—but for the most part, you’re not missing much. More »

Where the World’s Most Horrible Crap Comes From [Dispatches]

I am a man well versed in tacky shit; I spent the lion’s share of my formative years in Tucson, Arizona. If you haven’t been there, Tucson—like most mid-sized touristy cities with a lot of retirees—is filled to the top of its cacti with the kind of poorly made trinkets old people love to vomit all over their houses and vacationers love to pick up on the cheap to take back home as gifts. More »

Sony’s 84-Inch 4k TV Is Mammoth and Beautiful and We Want It Now [TV]

Sony just dumped one of the most monstrously gorgeous sets we’ve seen in some time—an 84-inch Bravia LCD with four times the resolution of today’s top HDTV. It could be in your living room by the end of the year. More »

What Happens When You Get Struck By Lightning [Video]

The human body simply isn’t built to conduct 300kV of electricity. So when things backfire while you’re fishing in a thunderstorm, and you find yourself doing an impromptu rendition of Powder, here’s what you can expect. More »

44 Of This Summer’s Best Photos [Shooting Challenge]

Believe it or not, there’s less than a month left in summer. Luckily, for this week’s Shooting Challenge, Gizmodo readers took some amazing photos that will keep us warm all year. More »

Twitter Needs to Fix Its Own Apps Before It Kills Everyone Else’s [Twitter]

Twitter’s latest move in the war against the companies which helped build it up is to no longer acknowledge when users are tweeting from the clients of all those third-party developers. It’s no secret Twitter wants to eradicate all third-party clients and funnel everyone into its own creations. And in theory, that should be great. Users would get a uniform experience, and Twitter would be able to introduce new features at breakneck speed. More »

How To Be a Genius: This Is Apple’s Secret Employee Training Manual [Apple]

We recently showed you just how badly some of Apple’s retail elite behave when no one’s watching, but surely they were taught better, right? You bet they were: Apple tells its new recruits exactly what what to think and say. How do we know? We read Apple’s secret Genius Training Manual from cover to cover. More »

The 3,000-Pound Fire-Breathing Robot Scorpion Roving the Nevada Desert [Video]

Burning Man, despite its reputation, is not just some low-fi hippie party in the middle of nowhere. The place is bursting with unique technology. Some of it blows out your eardrums, some helps you survive in a hostile environment, and some just inspires wonder, awe, and a little bit of fear. More »

The Nexus 7’s Single Biggest Advantage [Nexus 7]

Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has a killer spec sheet, an enviable operating system, and cutthroat price. But all of those combined can’t do for the tiny champ what Google’s actions today will. And that might just be enough to help it beat back the rumored iPad Mini. More »